1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dispensing of rolled sanitary tissue products, and more particularly, to a sanitary tissue dispenser which dispenses both dry sanitary tissue and wet wipe sheets for personal hygiene.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Numerous sanitary tissue dispensers are known in the prior art, both for home and public use. Personal hygiene wet wipes, on the other hand, tend to be a consumer product for use in the home. Typically, personal hygiene wet wipes are packaged in molded or vacuum formed disposable plastic containers which are also intended to serve as the dispenser for the wet wipes until the container is empty. In the home, such containers are generally placed on the top of the tank of the toilet or on some other surface in close proximity to the toilet so that they are easily reachable. Personal hygiene wet wipes are generally not supplied in public restrooms. Placing unsecured packages of wet wipes in a public restroom creates the potential problems of theft, a perception that the product may be unsanitary as having been touched by the previous user, and a perception that the product may have been subject to tampering.
There are a few add on dispensers known in the prior art where a separate wet wipe dispenser has been designed to be attached to or supported by an existing dry sanitary tissue dispenser. One such dispenser is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,595 to Boone. Boone teaches a cylindrical dispenser having a slot opening wherein the dispenser is supported on arms which attach to the spindle of the existing dry tissue dispenser. In the alternative, Boone teaches an add on ceramic support bracket to match the existing home ceramic dry tissue support bracket. A container of rolls of wetted sheets is supported from this add-on support bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,616 to Boone depicts yet another conventional toilet tissue dispenser as would typically be found in the home. From this dry tissue dispenser, Boone teaches various forms of wet wipe containers which, through the use of a support arm, can be attached and supported from the spindle of the dry tissue dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,316 to DeLorean teaches an auxiliary bathroom tissue dispenser having brackets adapted to be supported from the spindle of an existing dry tissue dispenser. The auxiliary bathroom tissue dispenser supports a second roll of dry tissue and includes a platform on which to rest a conventional wet tissue dispenser.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest a combined dry tissue dispenser and pre-wetted personal hygiene wiper dispenser which obviates the potential for theft of the wet wipe web. In addition, this prior art does not teach a combined wet/dry dispenser which reduces the perception that the product may have been touched by a prior user and therefore is unsanitary, and further, reduces the perception that the wet wipe web may have suffered from product tampering.